• Sioux Falls hosts Pheasant Fest for the first time, yet no one stays at our hotels for the event.
• Trains running through DTSF have two derailments this year, but nobody seems to be worried. Maybe that’s why Billion pulled out?
• Sioux Steel announces big redevelopment project Downtown. Maybe we will finally get our secret hidden park back?
• Nobody in the city knows if an actual safety study of Falls Park has been done after a little girl drowns. First it WAS done, than it was mis-information, than it was a training exercise, than lastly it was just an ‘Oral’ report. We finally got a real study done last month (that didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already knew).
• Mayoral Candidate Loetscher proposes Police Precincts, the TenHaken campaign beats her up over it, than after becoming mayor proposes precincts but calls them by a different name.
• Council Candidate Brekke holds news conference about the mayor’s Executive Orders and gag order on city employees.
• Legacy Developments ‘tries’ to blame the media and blogs for their negative image. I guess that building collapse and illegal asbestos removal had nothing to do with it.
• Argus Leader endorses TWO mayoral candidates before runoff. WTF?
• Several city election candidates violate sign ordinances by posting signs in the city owned boulevard (parking strip).
• Mayoral Candidate Jim Entenman spends a record $41.40 per vote and gets his ass handed to him.
• Liquor license parking seems to be the new trend for the rich and well connected, first Sanford then the Lamont companies.
• TenHaken campaign donor has his children donate thousands to campaign to skirt donation limit rules. Slimy.
• The GOP hate machine, once again gets involved in a non-partisan mayoral race. They know no limits. Slimeballs.
• TenHaken’s 100 day plan goes to Sh*t!
• Former Republican Lavallee co-chairs TenHaken’s mayoral campaign, than runs as Lt. Governor for Sutton’s campaign. Only in South Dakota.
• Highlight of the year, interviewing Mayor Pete Beuttigieg;
• Mayor Huether gets nominated for a Golden Padlock award for the Secret Siding Settlement. He doesn’t win.
• Rex Rolfing exits the city council than runs for District 13 and gets beat by a newbie. Thank Gaia.
• Transparency is promised by the new council and mayor, we are still waiting.
• Mr. Bendo moves, but told his pipe holding is a violation of sign code. The ridiculous notion gets sorted out.
• Newly Elected Mayor TenHaken appoints former Developer Executive his COS. Didn’t see that one coming. Yeah right. He also appoints a partisan hack as deputy COS who in his free time enjoys bashing liberals on FB.
Lots of negativity. Huether’s gone, it’s better and getting better tho. His ‘debt without infrastructure’ for ‘play place extravagance’ was stopped. It’ll be decades of bond payments before we restore adequate affordable services and quality of life.
Its been an interesting year!
Thanks, Scott, for all you do to further transparency.
“Former Republican Lavallee co-chairs TenHaken’s mayoral campaign, then runs as Lt. Governor for Sutton’s campaign. Only in South Dakota.”
The “only” is elitism at its best, or should we say at its worst?
The SDDP has become a political franchise for the rich, who use it to their benefit with no real intent for reform.
The SDDP is merely a refugee camp for the elite in this state to refuel, or reinvent, and to engage in a chess game for the few, while the many never see any real and significant change.